the Pope awarded the Pontifical Medal to the Spanish Almudena Alba Lopez for
her
publication "Political theology and anti-Arian polemics" (University of
Salamanca).
___________________________________________________________
Humanism with the face of charity: Mass in Florence
Vatican City, 11 November 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis concluded his brief
pastoral visit to Florence yesterday with Mass celebrated before fifty thousand
people in the "Artemio Franchi" stadium. Even the detainees in the Florentine
prison participated in a way, as the altar at which the Holy Father consecrated
the Eucharist was produced by them, for which he warmly thanked them.
In his homily, the Holy Father began from Christ's question to His disciples:
"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?". "Jesus is interested in what
people
think, not to keep them happy, but to be able to communicate with them", he
explained. "Without knowing what people think, the disciple isolates himself
and
begins to judge people according to his own thoughts and convictions.
Maintaining a healthy contact with reality, with what people experience, their
tears and their joys, is the only way of being able to help them ... to open
their
hearts to God. In reality, when God wanted to speak with us He incarnated
Himself. Jesus' disciples must never forget where they were chosen from - that
is, among the people - and must never give in to the temptation to assume
detached attitudes, as if what the people think and live did not affect them or
as if it were of little importance to them. ... This also applies to us. The
fact
that we are gathered today to celebrate Holy Mass in a sports stadium is a
reminder of this. The Church, like Jesus, lives amid the people and for the
people. For this reason the Church, throughout her history, has always carried
within her the same question: who is Jesus for the men and women of today?".
"Safeguarding and announcing the true faith in Jesus Christ is at the heart of
our Christian identity, since in recognising the mystery of the Son of God made
man, we can enter into the mystery of God and the mystery of man. ... Today,
too ...
our joy is sharing this faith and answering the Lord Jesus together: 'You, for
us, are the Christ, the Son of the living God'. Our joy is also that of going
against the grain and surmounting current opinion, that, like then, does not
manage to see Jesus as more than a prophet or a teacher. Our joy is recognising
in Him the presence of God, the envoy of His Father, the Son who came to make
Himself an instrument of salvation for humanity".
"At the root of the mystery of salvation is "the will of a merciful God, who
does not give up when confronted with man's incomprehension, blame and misery,
but rather gives Himself to him, to the point of making Himself man in order to
encounter every person in his or her true condition. This, God's merciful love,
is what Simon Peter recognises in Jesus' face. It is the same face that we are
called upon to recognise in the forms in which the Lord assures us of His
presence among us: in His Word, that illuminates the darkness of our minds and
our heart; in the Sacraments, that regenerate us from our death to new life; in
fraternal communion, that the Holy Spirit generates among His disciples; in
boundless love, that renders generous and tender service to all; in the poor,
who reminds us that Jesus wished for the supreme revelation of Himself and His
Father to take the image of Himself humiliated and crucified. This truth of
faith, this truth scandalises ... those who do not tolerate the mystery of God
impressed on the face of Christ".
"In reality, the communion between the divine and the human, fully realised in
Jesus, is our aim, the culmination of human history according to the Father's
plan. ... God and man are not the two extremes of an opposition: they always
seek
each other, as God recognises in man His own image and man recognises himself
only by looking at God. ... This is the road on which we can encounter humanity
...
with the spirit of the good Samaritan. It is not by chance that humanism, to
whose most creative moments the city of Florence bears witness, has always had
the face of charity".
"At the end of the Mass the Pope greeted the cardinal archbishop of Florence,
Giuseppe Betori, and the members of the Italian Episcopal Conference, and
thanked the detainees who had constructed the altar. He then transferred by car
to the "Luigi Ridolfi" stadium where he departed by helicopter to return to the
Vatican.
___________________________________________________________
The Holy See at UNESCO: the importance of education on climate change
Vatican City, 11 November 2015 (VIS) - Archbishop Francesco Follo, Holy See
permanent observer at UNESCO, addressed the 38th General Conference of this
body, which took place from 25 October to 10 November in Paris.
"UNESCO is heavily involved in the preparations for the United Nations
Conference on Climate Change (COP 21) and I am sure that the Organisation,
through its Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development,
plays and will continue to play a very important role in making education in
climate change a central and visible element of the international response to
this theme. Therefore, the Holy See welcomes with satisfaction ... the UNESCO
Road
Map for the implementation of the programme. Its objective is to help people
understand the impact of global warming and to familiarise the young, in
particular, with climate change. In order to achieve this, the programme
strengthens Member States' capacity to guarantee a quality education in climate
change, to encourage innovative education approaches to incorporating education
in climate change in school curricula, and to promote awareness of climate
change as well as the strengthening of informal education programmes through
the
communication media, networks and associations".
Archbishop Follo commented that the 70th anniversary of UNESCO offered a good
opportunity to take stock of our history and to reflect on our common future,
responding to the Holy Father's urgent invitation to engage in a "new dialogue
on the way in which we are constructing the future of the planet" and to
promote
"an 'ecological' education that must take into account the ethics of life and
dialogue".
This dialogue begins with "becoming aware that inhabiting the earth means
living 'in her' with respect, sobriety and simplicity in terms of what we
require, take and receive from her". But we should also live 'with her and care
for her'. ... A human attitude that derives from work and the assumption of
responsibility is required.
Indeed, it is important not to forget that the relationship between humanity
and nature "is synthesized by work. In effect, on the one hand nature is the
expression of a design of love and truth. It precedes us and was given to us by
God as a living environment, Who established it according to an intrinsic order
to guide man in cultivating and maintaining it". With regard to responsibility,
"in simple terms, we all know where we area, and in equally simple terms, we
all
know where we wish to go: we must leave the earth habitable, or render it newly
habitable for future generations if we have ransacked it".
"This purpose is inspired by the encyclical "Laudato si'" that Pope Francis
dedicated to our common home", concluded Archbishop Follo, citing Pope emeritus
Benedict XVI, who had encouraged the development of a "human ecology", since
"intelligence requires us to respect others as well as the home where we live.
...
Pope Francis says that intelligence also commands us to respect our common home
as by doing so, we demonstrate our love for our neighbour".
___________________________________________________________
Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 11 November 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
- appointed Fr. Karel Choennie as bishop of Paramaribo (area 163,829,
population 505,580, Catholics 115,221, priests 18, permanent deacons 4,
religious 16), Suriname. The bishop-elect was born in Suriname in 1958 and was
ordained a priest in 1985. He holds a licentiate in pastoral theology from the
Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and has served in a number of pastoral
roles in the diocese of Paramaribo, including parish priest, episcopal vicar,
member of the diocesan curia and vicar general. He is currently pastor of the
St. Clement parish.
- accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of
Detroit, United States of America, presented by Archdiocese Francis R. Reiss,
upon reaching the age limit.
___________________________________________________________
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www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va
Copyright (VIS): the news contained in the services of the Vatican
Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting
the source: V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.
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* Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)
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